Start Theo Johnson or Drew Sample? Week 10

Our Week 10 call

Start Drew Sample over Theo Johnson in Week 10.

Market-based projections have Drew Sample at 2.4 points and Theo Johnson at 1.6, a gap of 0.8. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. No player market is posted for Drew Sample this week yet, so his 2.4 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 8 and 9 (3.3 and 1.6); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 10 player market is posted for Drew Sample yet. His market-based projections were 3.3 and 1.6 points in Weeks 8 and 9, an average of 2.4, which stands in until his Week 10 market posts.

The market-based projection for Drew Sample is 0.1 touchdowns (10 market sources).

Player markets imply 1.6 fantasy points for Theo Johnson, with 100 percent of the markets a TE needs posted.

The market-based projection for Theo Johnson is 5 receiving yards, 0-1 receptions and 0.1 touchdowns (8, 8 and 13 market sources).

That puts Drew Sample 0.8 points ahead of Theo Johnson on these projections.

Week 10 matchups

Drew Sample and CIN host PIT on Sunday at 8:20 PM ET.

PIT allowed 12.7 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 8 games, the 13th fewest in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 57 yards and 0.3 touchdowns a game against PIT.

Theo Johnson and NYG host WAS on Thursday at 8:15 PM ET.

WAS allowed 20.7 fantasy points a game to TEs this season over 7 games, the 2nd most in the league.

Tight ends caught passes for 75 yards and 1.1 touchdowns a game against WAS.

By points allowed to the position, Theo Johnson has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Drew Sample is not on the injury report.

Theo Johnson is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 10

Through Week 9, Drew Sample played 51 percent of CIN snaps, drew 3 percent of the targets, earned 0 percent of the air yards and had 3 percent of the red zone chances.

Drew Sample, Week 5 against MIA: 34 of 65 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 5 yards.

Drew Sample, Week 7 against BAL: 29 of 53 snaps, 2 targets and 2 catches for 24 yards, 1 touchdown.

Drew Sample, Week 8 against TEN: 29 of 74 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Drew Sample, Week 9 against ATL: 38 of 57 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Through Week 9, Theo Johnson played 33 percent of NYG snaps, drew 5 percent of the targets, earned 5 percent of the air yards and had 2 percent of the red zone chances.

Theo Johnson, Week 3 against TEN: 11 of 64 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Theo Johnson, Week 4 against ARI: 22 of 67 snaps, 1 target and 1 catch for 11 yards, 1 touchdown.

Theo Johnson, Week 5 against WAS: 43 of 89 snaps, 3 targets and 2 catches for 35 yards.

Theo Johnson, Week 9 against PHI: 12 of 67 snaps, 0 targets and 0 catches for 0 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Drew Sample played 17 games for CIN and scored 31.9 PPR points, 1.9 a game, finishing TE64.

He caught 15 of 20 targets for 106 yards and 1 touchdown, with 1 red zone target and -3 air yards.

He was on the field for 52 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Theo Johnson played 15 games for NYG and scored 127.8 PPR points, 8.5 a game, finishing TE18.

He caught 45 of 74 targets for 528 yards and 5 touchdowns, with 13 red zone targets and 341 air yards.

He was on the field for 87 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 10 calls

• Start Theo Johnson over Austin Hooper.
• Start Daniel Bellinger over Theo Johnson.
• Start Mitchell Evans over Theo Johnson.